A postcard from Arles

Every year, from July to September, the town of Arles, hosts an international photography festival, Les Rencontres d'Arles This year I was lucky enough to be back there for a few days of the opening week, soaking in all that it has to offer with some friends from my old camera club in the UK.

There is photography everywhere, with every conceivable space being used, from the grandest of churches and museums, to abandoned buildings, walls and even the pavement. As with many art festivals, the official festival is accompanied by a fringe and even guerrilla posting of images. The festival celebrates and, most importantly values, photography, something which is not really done in the UK or at least on not such a scale.

With only three and a half days there this time I only just scratched the surface of the festival. As with my first visit two years ago, I’ve come back from Arles challenged and inspired. My own image making has been in a slump over the last two years, so Arles has been a welcome fillip. It’s time for me to start making images again.

On leaving and the meaning of home

Our move to France has been a very long time coming. As we’ve had to wait for so long for it to happen, it has felt like an abstract concept; something we hoped would happen, but had no idea of when. Now abstract has turned to reality and in just over a week’s time we will sail from Portsmouth on a one-way ticket.

New direction?

It's been very quiet here on In the Making. 2014 was all about photography and my 52 postcards project. I knew for the early part of 2015 I would take a photography break for a month or two. The month or two has now turned into eight months.